My husband and I had a chance to look through that Yukon book Till was part of. They sell it in the big book store here. I was never interested in buying it, because the whole wilderness, hunting, survival is not really my thing. Even less interested now that I've seen the book. All the photos have the same dark filter on them which gives the pic a sort of "cold" feeling and not showing the actual colours in nature as much. A real minus that was just unnecessary is Joey Kelly giving the photographer the finger on one page. It's just so... dumb and added nothing if you liked the book. The book is way too expensive as well, only very few photo books are worth 79 euros. It's worth 39, at most. Sure, it's big and pretty and has Till in it, but things are not automatically brilliant just because of him. I'm not interested in photos of Till pulling a dead moose out of the water by it's head, him sitting outside a tent looking harsh and soaking wet or when he's pointing at something with a crossbow. Its's mixed with a few poems about being sad, lonely, too old or not liking God. The usual. Don't get me wrong, the poems are good and very much his style, but it's been done before. Some of them are just lyrics from the Lindemann album.

If you like all those things and that kind of photography, then I'm sure you will love it, but it's not for me.

***

I haven't ordered the in Paris DVD either. I didn't really like the concert and I can't quite bring myself to buy it just because of the rather short documentary.

Don't think I would ever buy another Lindemann album, I only liked 3 or so of the songs and the whole imagery was a bit too childish. I've sold the box with album and book that I had.

***

I've read half of Flake's new book now and it's not really that exciting... I know it's hard to repeat a success and his language style is still good, but I find the story pretty boring. The last book explained his life, East-Germany, the underground bands his interests and was a really good read. This new book explains one day on a recent tour with details about how music and light work on stage, the side story is just the history of the band that we have already heard a hundred times. A few funny or interesting details, but not really enough to make a long book out of. Unless the second half of the book is much better, I'm not going to bother getting it signed, I'll just give it away when I'm done.I would still go and listen to him if he does another reading, because he is really good at presenting and story telling.

The first book is signed for me and will always be in my bookshelf. That one I would definitely read again.

There is nothing new that wasn't already in the Feeling B books, every interview or documentary, he mentions Till maybe 10 times, the others maybe 4 or 5 times, but not really saying anything about them. The rest is just one long detailed description of a concert. "Then you turn on this amplifier, many bands use other amplifiers, and some have many amplifiers zzzzz. ... and then I look at the fans, the fans like this, the fans might not like this, maybe the fans paid too much and then I look at the fans again zzzzz..... and this light goes and for this we turn on this light and there is a light over there too zzzzz. .. and then we were drunk, and then Till Stole something, then Till got pissed off, then he was pissed off again and then we were drunk and Till got pissed off, and now we play the c part of the song, now it's time for the c part of a different song, now the c part of another."

There you go, the content of the whole book, page up and page down. This seems like a desperate attempt to earn some cash.

But the book sure points out that they are clueless, lazy and a bunch of thieves.

I don´t agree. The Book is hilarious! Flake has a way to write, that has his own unique style. It remembers me of the german comedian Helge Schneider. Not everybody get´s him, but if you do, its spectacular funny. And Flake has the same thing going. I was laughing out loud at the U-Bahn because of the stories he tells AND the funny way he told them. I try to think of an artist in the U.S. who I can compare Flakes style to, for you to understand, but no one came to mind. Mmh. Maybe a little bit like the book "Seriously I'm Kidding" by Ellen Degeneres or "Bossy Pants" by Tina Fey. It is a kind of dry and sarcastic humor I really like.

And there was nothing new in it? To that I also not agree. I read the "Feeling B" Book too and Flakes first book and if you do that, then you have a good foundation of knowledge that you can not ad tons of new things. In his first book - a biografie - he says in the end, he forgot to talk about Rammstein and that is true (he talks about his bandmates between the lines, but there is no real information). But in "Heute hat die Welt Geburtstag" he talks about Rammstein only and he tells all that stories about his bandmates, with name and everything that I question myself, has he asked them to tell all these things? I hope so.

And the thing I like most is - and I think it´s a BIG THING for every Rammstein Fan - he takes you Backstage and gives you an insight of a typical day on tour, and he added a lot of memories that are new, at least to me. And this gives you an insight to the backstage-life of Rammstein, that I never thought I would get. (And you get a lot of old GDR memories, that is, of course, only interesting for people who can relate.)

So this is my opinion: The book is as good as the first one, it´s uniquely funny, it´s full of Rammstein, a good read and A KEEPER.

P.S. They are no thieves! They sometimes steel sweets and alcohol when they where very young and broke. Sometimes for fun. That´s how I understand what he tells about it. But who did not do that? But you don't have to be afraid of your things (or you bill - and I know, you where only joking) when they are around.

If you read the book, then you must have read the part where he with no shame describes how they stole instruments in a music shop, how Till stole some sunglasses for Flake just because he needed them and how now and then they just stole something from a gas station. Stealing is wrong and it makes you a thief. Wrong is wrong even when everyone does it. It's not okay just because it's them. In the Feeling B book Paul explains how he illegally installed a telephone that he stole somewhere and in the MHB making o he mentions how he and his wife broke in to a place and stole a few things. He even admits it's not okay.

Just imagine telling them that it's okay to steal just a few of their songs - everyone does it, so it must be okay, right?

I have no problem understanding Flake's style. I am German, I grew up with German television, music and humor, I live in Germany and hear it every day. I read Flake's first book and I loved it, I have heard him in documentaries about his life, I've heard him live on the radio and I've been to a reading with him and loved it. I love listening to him, because he is quick, honest and tells a story really well. I've even met him in person and talked about his book and we hugged each other. I love him to bits and just because they do something wrong doesn't mean they have no good qualities as people. They have always been polite and friendly, but I certainly don't approve of all the things they do or like all their stuff.

And no, I didn't find it interesting and I saw nothing new. Every tour they post what goes on backstage and they have explained their story in documentaries and interviews already. I've been a fan since 1999 and maybe I'm spoiled because I've been backstage and to their parties and because so many others on this forum have been to parties, meet & greet and backstage. I didn't say you couldn't like it. I didn't like it. I felt this was a rushed job he could have added a lot more story and warmth to. Like in his first book. I threw the book out and that was the most the most satisfying thing about it. Because I liked his other stuff so much, this one was a bit disappointing - and that's okay, the sky will not fall.

His first book is signed for me personally and will stay in my bookshelf because I want to read it again. I might even get the audio book, because I really like hearing him telling the story.

Edit: one hilarious part was how they ended up with a bill for 46 000 D Mark after robbing the hotels blind on one of their first tours. They just assumed all towels and everything in every mini bar was all for them. The record company thought they were kidding and said they can not possibly be that stupid. "But after talking to us for a few minutes, they realised that we were."

Rammstein was rewarded because of their dedication to saving a specific Berlin landmark building (financially). An old, run down metal factory (as far as I can read), which they restored and now actually use to store their huuuuge amount of stage equipment.